Robotic arm assemblies are useful throughout various industries for performing operations at, e.g., remote locations, hazardous locations, etc. At least certain robotic arm assemblies include a robotic arm formed of a plurality of links joined together at respective joints. Additionally, a plurality of control wires may extend through the robotic arm, with each wire terminating at an individual link for moving such link relative to an aft-adjacent link. The control wires may be coupled to one or more motors within a base of the robotic arm assembly, such that the robotic arm assembly may control a movement of the robotic arm by increasing and/or decreasing tension on the plurality of control wires.
In order to form such a robotic arm of the robotic arm assembly, each of the individual links are typically separately formed, and individual holes are extruded or drilled for each of the plurality of control wires. The control wires are then threaded through the extruded or separately drilled holes in the links. Such a construction method, however, may make it difficult to construct relatively long and/or relatively thin robotic arms. Specifically, with such a construction method, it may be difficult to thread each of the control wires through each of the plurality of links of the robotic arm, particularly when a relatively dense concentration of control wires is desired, such that the control wires are relatively thin. Further, in the event of a failure of one of the control wires, it may be difficult to replace such control wire.
Accordingly, a method for constructing a robotic arm assembly allowing for increased ease of construction and/or repair would be useful.